Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
How will the Mets (and history) treat Jerry Manuel> The “interim” manager took over for the beleaguered Willie Randolph early this season, when the team was hovering under the .500 mark. Yes, Randolph was the leader of a bunch of underachievers, but almost everyone agrees that the way in which his dismissal was handled was, […]
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Aug. 30 is a red letter day for the game, so I’m combining several elements: Happy birthday: Ted Williams, aka, The Splendid Splinter (Nickname of the Day), was born this date in 1918. Welcome to the Big Leagues: Ty Cobb (1905) and Keith Hernandez (1974) began their storied careers on Aug. 30. Fare thee well: […]
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(Not to be confused with “Sweet Lou” Johnson of the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s) Lou Pinella, now in the midst of guiding the Cubs to the promised land of the post-season, was born this date in 1943. Younger fans don’t realize what a good player he was “in the day: a .291 average […]
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The Hall of Famer, both as a ballplayer and humanitarian, would have been an unbelievable 74 today. As is the case for many such inspirational icons, the books are split between books for adults and and juveniles. Clemente is important on many levels: as an elite athlete, as a role model for kids, and as […]
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Roseboro, a catcher primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 1960s, died this date in 2002. He published an autobiography, Glory Days with the Dodgers, and Other Days with Others, in 1978. Unfrtunately, the signature moment in Roseboro’s career might have come when pitcher Juan Marichal took a bat to his head during one […]
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From BookClubClassics.com, this list of fiction and non-fiction classics. No reviews, just links to Amazon.
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Baseball Films in the Capra Tradition by Wes D. Gehring, McFarland, 2004 Gehring, a professor of film at Ball State University and associate media editor for USA Today magazine, combines th best of both worlds as he examines several baseball features, comparing them with the works of Frank Capra. For example, these baseball films mirror […]
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Sure, there have been plenty of biographies about the ol’ perfesser, but what about fictional accounts of the daffy Stengel? Try Troy Soos’ historical baseball fiction, Murder at Ebbets Field, one of several in a series of mysteries featuring utility journeyman player Mickey Rawlings. (My profile on Soos appeared in the Summer, 1998 issue of […]
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from the Scooter Chronicles blog. Upshot: As far as baseball books go, I can see why this ranks amongst the best. I don’t know from experience, or from reading anyone that has said so, but I get the feeling that it’s a very accurate description of what life could have been like playing for a […]
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From the Sports Locker blog.
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Per a blog about baseball cards.
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Following the Home Run Derby before the All-Star Game, The Toronto National Post posted this story comparing Josh Hamilton, who had 28 homers in the first round of the competition, to the fictional Roy Hobbs. The writer goes on to list a few more baseball flicks in the spirit of the hallowed event.
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The Los Angeles Times published this fascinating piece on a lost art/tradition. In 1993, I was working on a manuscript about the Mets season. There were high expectations since the team had pulled out the stops to acquire some big names like Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, and Eddie Murray, but it turned out to be […]
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In today’s New York Times — and with the closing of both new York stadiums after the 2008 season — Nick Bunkley writes about the demolition of Tiger Stadium in his “Detroit Journal.” As the last game in the old Michigan ballpark drew near, Tom Stanton wrote about growing up an intergenerational Tigers fan in […]
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From The Juice blog on Baseball Toaster: Let’s start with a baseball book. You should read Buzz Bissinger’s (yeah, that guy) Three Nights in August. It’s not a perfect book, as Bissinger’s dislike of Moneyball elements demonstrate. Even if you have a sabermetrical view of the game, it is hard to deny the charms of […]
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His name might not be as familiar as David Halberstam or Maury Allen or other prolific baseball authors, but Jules Tygiel was a master of the social importance of the game. He wrote several volumes about Jackie Robinson, but managed to keep his material fresh and pertinent. Tygiel passed away yesterday at the age of […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In a former life, I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted an award-winning bog about Jews and Sports.
I did a profile piece on the legendary cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was very generous in immortalizing me in this caricature.
My article on Sandy Koufax in the 1965 World Series appears in
My article on the later biographies of Babe Ruth appears in
My article on the Mets’ 1969 postseason appears in
Profiles of several Jewish baseball figures appear in
* 202 reasons to be annoyed
August 2, 2008
In 2006, Roy Green published 101 Reasons to Love the Yankees and 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox. Released by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, these were nice little books (a similar book about the Mets also came out that year), full of pictures and brief texts about the author’s favorite moments and people for […]
Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees
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